Fast Facts: Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #29 Budweiser/Jimmy John’s/Rheem Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in the Sprint Cup Series as well as a few other NASCAR machines, has three wins so far in the 2011 Sprint Cup season. Here’s a few fast facts on the driver they call “The Closer.”
Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR
  • Kevin Michael Harvick was born December 8th, 1975 in Bakersfield, California. His parents bought him a go-kart for his kindergarten graduation in 1980, and in the next 10 years, won seven national championships and two Grand National championships. He competed in the NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series while in North High School in Bakersfield, where he also competed as a wrestler, earning the section title in his weight class his senior year.
  • Harvick made his Truck Series debut in 1995 at his hometown Mesa Marin Raceway, starting and finishing 27th in a family-owned truck. He also competed in the NASCAR Auto Zone West Series, the Winston West Series, and the Winter Heat Series at Tucson Raceway Park.
  • In 2000, Harvick signed with RCR to race in the Busch Series (now Nationwide) full-time, winning the series’ Rookie of the Year title. Plans were to have Harvick race the series full-time again in 2001, moving to the Cup Series full-time in 2002, until the untimely death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona. It took Harvick just three races to win his first emotional Cup Series race, edging out Jeff Gordon by 0.006-seconds at Atlanta. In 2001, Harvick captured both the Cup Series Rookie of the Year and the Nationwide Series championship; Harvick was also Nationwide champ in 2006.
  • Harvick and his wife, the former DeLana Linville, founded Kevin Harvick Incorporated in 2001. Today, they own three Truck Series teams and three Nationwide Series teams with a number of drivers; full-time drivers for KHI are Elliott Sadler (#2 - Nationwide), Nelson Piquet Jr. (#8 - Truck Series) and Ron hornaday Jr. (#33 - Truck Series).
  • The Harvicks founded the Kevin Harvick Foundation in 2010 to support children’s programs throughout the US.
  • Find out more about Kevin Harvick at www.kevinharvick.com and about KHI at http://www.kevinharvickinc.com/.
Fast Facts: Kevin Harvick Fast Facts: Kevin Harvick Reviewed by Paula on Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Rating: 5